Five minutes to make your public key discoverable through the three standard channels: keys.openpgp.org for keyserver lookups, Web Key Directory for automatic discovery via your email domain, and direct fingerprint sharing for the personal touch.
From PGPony, export the public half of your key as ASCII armored. Save the
resulting .asc file to somewhere accessible: Files (iOS) or Downloads (Android).
The file contains only public material and is safe to share through any channel.
Fastest path: from PGPony's Exchange tab → Show My Key, tap Upload. PGPony posts the public key to keys.openpgp.org via HKP. The keyserver responds with verification links sent to each email in your User IDs.
Alternative: open keys.openpgp.org in a browser, click Upload, and select the .asc file from Step 01. Same end result.
keys.openpgp.org doesn't publish the email-bound User IDs until you verify ownership of each address. This prevents anyone from uploading a fake key for someone else's email.
keys.openpgp.org sends a verification email to each address in the key's User IDs. Open the email and click the verification link. Repeat for each address if your key has multiple User IDs.
After verification, your User IDs become searchable by email: anyone can look up
your@email.com and find your public key.
If you control the domain in your email address (e.g. you own yourname.com and
your email is you@yourname.com), Web Key Directory makes your key discoverable
automatically. No user-initiated keyserver search needed.
See Set up WKD for your domain for the full procedure.
Even with keyservers and WKD, having your fingerprint visible where people might encounter you matters:
Cross-channel fingerprint matching (your website + keys.openpgp.org + email sig all agree) is much harder to spoof than any single source.
From a different device, open keys.openpgp.org and search for your email. Your key should appear with the correct fingerprint. If you set up WKD, also try a WKD lookup from gpg on desktop:
gpg --auto-key-locate=wkd --locate-keys you@yourdomain.comBoth lookups returning your key means you're published and discoverable.
keys.openpgp.org. Verified email ownership, supports key updates and removal, modern default. Older SKS keyservers had no verification and are largely deprecated.
On keys.openpgp.org, yes via the same email-verification flow. On older SKS keyservers, no. Once uploaded, permanent.
Different discovery paths. Keyservers serve user-initiated lookups; WKD is automatic from mail clients. Together they maximize discoverability.
Always the full fingerprint (40 hex). Short key IDs are collision-prone and have been used in real key-impersonation attacks.
Yes. Upload new key to keys.openpgp.org, update WKD, update fingerprint everywhere it's published.
Free OpenPGP encryption for iOS and Android. No accounts, no tracking.